Swarthmore College

Aydelotte Curricular Grants support Swarthmore faculty developing assignments, projects, or entire courses that include research, writing, discussion, and reflection on topics related to the history, present, and future of liberal arts and/or higher education. The Aydelotte Foundation believes in the value of offering students the opportunity to reflect on the conditions of their own educations, as well as to understand Swarthmore in the context of the larger higher education landscape in the U.S. and across the globe. Grants offer honoraria of $500 to support the development of an assignment and $1,500 for a course that substantively addresses one of these topics. We can also consider requests to help with honoraria for visiting speakers tied to a class or for student research assistantships directly tied to preparation for any of these curricular development grants.

Examples could include a unit in a Biology class on the racialized history of laboratory science in the modern research university, an assignment for a History class with a linked visiting speaker on the settler colonial history of land grant universities, or an English class on the campus novel. But they might also include coursework inviting students to reflect on their personal and family history with higher education as the opening assignment for any number of first-year writing classes, examining the history of student activism in relation to a particular discipline, or a research project investigating how a particular kind of college class might be taught differently at different types of institutions than Swarthmore. Aydelotte staff are available during weekly office hours and by appointment to assist applicants who wish to consider including some form of reflection on liberal arts and higher education in a given class but would like suggestions or a sounding board.

Applications are rolling and will continue to be evaluated monthly in the order we receive them until we reach the annual budget’s limit. The grants are designed to facilitate the addition of new elements to a course as it is in the process of being taught as well as longer-planned curricular projects. Honoraria will be dispersed at the conclusion of the semester in which the course is taught.

Please use this form to submit an application.

Please visit the Aydelotte Foundation’s repository on Swarthmore Works to view course materials that have been supported by this initiative.

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